Avalanche: Big Cottonwood Canyon

Observer Name
jp gendron
Observation Date
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Avalanche Date
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon
Location Name or Route
Saturn Cirque
Elevation
10,400'
Aspect
East
Trigger
Skier
Depth
8"
Width
40'
Comments
I trigger this immediately with a ski cut at the very top of the bowl. Heavy new snow/ frozen surface interface. Fairly predictable slide considering new snow density from yesterday and today on top of the frozen hard pack beneath. Not enough to fully bury, plenty to ruin your day. There were also two timbersled tracks that traversed directly across the middle of the bowl. I watched them while I was ascending, and was rather surprised that nothing moved- these guys were pretty lucky not to have triggered anything while perpendicularly center punching the bowl.